Temporary Repairs for Leaking Pipes

These fixes are a quick repair to get the water back on in a pinch. Remember you will need to get a permanent fix later.

Push a sharpened pencil point into the hole. Break it off, leaving the point in the hole. Wrap the pipe with electrical tape. Put plumber’s epoxy over the tape to seal any leaks. After the plumber’s epoxy has set, about a half hour, turn the water back on.

Wrap an old inner tube or other piece of rubber around the pipe, covering the hole. Then use hose clamps over the rubber to seal the hole. If you don’t have hose clamps you can use a couple small blocks of wood and a C clamp to seal the hole and keep it from leaking.

Cut a piece of garden hose to cover the hole and about 2-3 inches on either side of the hole in the pipe. Make a slit down the length of the cut hose and slip the hose over the pipe. Use hose clamps to hold the hose in place and stop the leak.

Permanent Repairs for Leaking Pipes

Permanent repairs for your leaky pipe will take some planning and a bit more time. But these repairs will fix you leaky pipes once and for all.

Your home store will sell you a specially designed pipe clamp for leaky pipes. The clamp is a rubber gasket with a clamp affixed or sealed inside that is specifically designed to fit around the leaky pipe. Slide the clamp around the pipe, covering the hole tighten and your leak is gone.

One more option is flexible/braided metal tube with compression couples at each end. This permanent fix allows you to fix longer split pipe and even elbows. The repair tubes are flexible so they can be bent gently to follow the path of the pipe. Flexible/metal tubes are available in several different lengths accommodating a number of situations.

Installing a flexible/braided metal tube is pretty simple. Start by draining the damaged pipe. Center the repair tube on the damaged section of pipe. Measure one inch in from each end of the repair tube and mark the damaged pipe. Cut the section of damaged pipe between the marks out. Push the tube over the ends of the pipe, forming any elbows if necessary. Tighten the compression fittings and turn on the water. Check for leaks.

Thankfully leaks in copper pipes don’t happen very often. But if you ever need to deal with a leaky pipe any of the above quick fixes will have your water running again quickly. If you have older pipes you may have to deal with these issues much more often.